XYLENE POWER LTD.

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) SITING

By Charles Rhodes, P.Eng., Ph.D.

BACKGROUND:
Thermal analysis shows that nuclear mitigation of climate change requires a world nuclear reactor thermal capacity of about 32,000 GWt by 2070. Of that amount about 800 GWt must be located in Canada.
 

NPP SITING:
The first criteria for nuclear power plant (NPP) siting are adequate bedrock and adequate cooling.

If the support bedrock is unstable the site must be rejected, irrespective of all other criteria.

If there is insufficient water for emergency removal of fission product decay heat, the NPP site must be rejected, irrepective of all other criteria.

Ideally a NPP site has sufficient water cooling that air cooling is not required.

The site must be located so that it is practical and economic to connect the NPP to the electricity grid.

The site must have sufficient area to permit practical construction, operation and subsequent maintenance of the NPPs.

If a NPP is to be used for district heating the site location and site elevation must be suitable for that purpose.

There must be suitable nearby interim accommodation for the NPP construction workers and suitable nearby long term accommodation for the staff required to operate and maintain the NPP. The reactor owner will have a major investment in personnel training, so it is essential to provide excellent support services for both single workers and families. In this respect major ongoing cost savings can be realized by locating the NPP close to a major metropolis. It is absolutely essential to minimize turnover of highly trained staff. In this respect at remote sites it is essential to provide reasonable options for education, recreation and spousal employment.

If the NPP is remote from a major city it is extremely important to provide organized activities for single persons. In the past single persons sent to Chalk River / Deep River (a remote location in Ontario) for nuclear engineering training reported that they never felt so lonely in their lives. There is merit in providing trainees a reasonable social life.

The NPP site should be sufficiently close to other similar NPP sites that a worker can easily work at any of these NPP sites without changing his/her place of residence.

The NPP construction schedule should be planned such that over time construction workers can efficiently move from one NPP to the next.

To minimize the cost of NPP financing, at any single NPP the construction period should be less than 5 years. As each NPP is finished it should be connected to the grid so that it is revenue producing as soon as posible after its construction is commenced.

The NPP site should provide sufficient space for interim storage of all tools, material and modules related to work on the critical path so as to minimize project delays.

The road and railway serving the site must have sufficient clearance and load bearing capacity to accommodate the largest NPP components.

This web page last updated October 14, 2024.